Microsoft Contest Rewards Technology Innovation at U.S. Colleges and Universities

April 16, 1997
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REDMOND, Wash., April 16, 1997 — And the winner is… Those are the words that 20 college and university faculty members will hear in July when their technology innovations are recognized by Microsoft Corporation. The 1997 Microsoft Innovators in Higher Education Challenge gives college and university faculty the chance they’ve been waiting for to earn recognition and software for their big ideas.

Microsoft will reward college and university faculty members and teaching assistants for original projects, courses or programs using Microsoft’s Internet Information Server, Windows NT server operating system, Office, FrontPage web authoring tool, NetShow server or NetMeeting conferencing software. To enter the Innovators in Higher Education Challenge, faculty must describe the innovative use of one or more of these products in 250-500 words and submit them electronically or via U.S. mail by June 15, 1997.

“Colleges and universities are laboratories for technology implementation and faculty develop some of the most innovative uses of software for teaching,” said Aleisa Spain, director of Higher Education Marketing, Microsoft Education Customer Unit. “The Innovators in Higher Education Challenge is one way Microsoft encourages colleges and universities to make the most of the technology tools available and rewards educators for their integration efforts.”

Previous Innovators in Higher Education Challenge winners include California State University, Long Beach, Calif., for the use of Windows NT, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic programming system to create a distance learning curriculum for engineering. The engineering department at State Technical Institute in Memphis, Tenn., won for their 70-seat lab running Windows 95 and Windows NT for CAD/CAM and data acquisition. The University of Tulsa, Okla., submitted a winning essay for their student-run project using Windows NT and Internet Information Server. Students set up a Web server to be used for student recruitment, course information, registration, alumni networking and job placement information.

“This program recognizes educators for their ideas regardless of the size of school, the type of department or the budget they have to work with, and shows that great uses of technology can be found anywhere,” Spain said. “Last year the judges were impressed with the administrative solutions and classroom innovations created with technology by faculty across the country.”

Entries will be judged for innovation; usability and scalability across platforms; and appropriateness to theme, clarity, grammar and writing style. A panel of college and university students will select the 20 winners.

To enter by mail send entries and name, address, phone number, date of birth and e-mail address to Innovators in Higher Education, Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052. Winners will be posted July 31, 1997 on the Microsoft Higher Education Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/education/hed/ , and can be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Innovators in Higher Education address above.

Microsoft is committed to providing practical solutions to the complex challenges colleges and universities face in implementing and integrating technology – in the classroom, in administration, and even beyond the campus – and to preparing information technology professionals and students for success in the workplace and for lifelong learning.

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